Americans already believe that everyone should have the right to affordable health care

By Sara R. Collins, Munira Z. Gunja, Michelle M. Doty, Herman K. Bhupal
The Commonwealth Fund, March 1, 2018

The Commonwealth Fund Affordable Care Act Tracking Survey interviewed a random, nationally representative sample of 2,410 adults ages 19 to 64 between November 2 and December 27, 2017.

Do you think all Americans should have the right to affordable health care?

92% – Yes
7% – No
1% – Don’t know/Refused

Asked of the 8% who said no or don’t know/refused:

What if everyone had to contribute financially over their lifetime in order to have the right to affordable health care? Under those circumstances would you consider affordable health care to be a right?

29% – Yes
58% – No
13% – Don’t know/Refused

From the Policy Implications:

This survey’s finding that strong majorities of U.S. adults, regardless of party affiliation, believe that all Americans should have a right to affordable health care suggests there may be popular support for a discussion over our preferred path.

http://www.commonwealthfund.org…

***

Comment:

By Don McCanne, M.D.

It has often been said that we cannot enact single payer Medicare for all until Americans agree that health care is a right. This survey shows that 94 percent of adults under 65 already agree that “all Americans should have the right to affordable health care.” Most of those over 65 already have it.

Let’s move on. We have work to do.

Stay informed! Visit www.pnhp.org/qotd to sign up for daily email updates.